Why the secrecy over water treatment discussions?

Dear Editor

In a news release in 2007 taxpayers learned that the Town of Hinton had been notified by West Fraser that it would be withdrawing from any responsibilities to treat water for the town and its residents.

Back then, West Fraser gave the town notice that on December 31, 2017, it would be withdrawing from any established responsibilities. It said that moving forward, water treatment would not be a “core component” of their business.

Our new town council has recently had two in-camera (secret) meetings on this topic. After the December 19th meeting council, council decided to spend $120,000 to explore options and determine a construction budget for a new Water Treatment Plant.

After the December 28th meeting, a news release was issued indicating that council had signed a transition agreement to have West Fraser keep providing potable water services until May 31 of this year. Also in December, council decided to boost residential and commercial fees for water by 10 per cent.

I requested a copy of this transition agreement from the town and was told I couldn’t see it. The agreement is apparently secret. Why, I can’t imagine. The town says that the reason for the secrecy is several sections of the FOIP Act. I disagree. Like many others, my understanding is that the FOIP Act was designed to ensure such things are disclosed to the public, rather than hidden. The idea that discussions about water should occur only in rooms that have bolted shutters is completely ludicrous.

The subject of water treatment was also discussed by the last council, and even then, I failed to understand why some kept wanting in-camera (secret) discussions. Continued secrecy means it is starting to look like the town is deliberately avoiding public discussion about any hard questions.

Like others to whom I have spoken, I wonder about the rationale for secret discussions about drinking water. It’s hard to imagine that any aspect of such discussions centre around trade secrets that would jeopardize the commercial interests of West Fraser. West Fraser is getting out of the domestic water business. It is equally inappropriate for this council to spend “public” money without a full explanation or public debate.

The basic principal is why would any town, not just Hinton, want to be secretive with how it spends money on a water project? The public has a right to know why and how its money is being spent. In this case, our new council has decided to spend well into six figures on options to establish a water treatment plant, and is doing so with little or no public discussion and disclosure. This comes three months after an election where a good number of these candidates discussed the virtues of transparency and promised disclosure.

Stuart Taylor, Hinton.